Amina Ali Nkeki is a Nigerian former hostage of
Boko Haram
Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...
.
She was one of 276 female students the group
kidnapped from Chibok in 2014. After 57 of the girls escaped in the first few months, the remaining 219 were held for several years. Of this larger group, Ali was the first freed.
She was found on 17 May 2016 by
Civilian Joint Task Force
The Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) is a loose group of militants that was formed in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria to help oust Boko Haram Islamist fighters from their city. The group possesses basic weapons and has female members. The vigilant ...
along with a four-month-old child and an alleged Boko Haram member, Mohammed Hayatu, who described himself as her husband. All three were severely malnourished.
Aftermath of kidnapping
Ali was taken to the house of the leader of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Chibok, Aboku Gaji. After he recognised her, the group then reunited her with her parents.
Ali also stated that 6 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls had died.
She met Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari on 19 May. In June 2016, the Bring Back Our Girls group as well as Ali's parents started demanding to know her whereabouts as they had not seen her since her meeting with Buhari. It was later discovered that she and her baby were being held in a government facility where they were to be deradicalised. In her interview with
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
in August 2016, she stated that she was not comfortable with the way she was being kept from her husband Hayatu and that she still thought about him. She also stated that she just wanted to go home. While 21 Chibok schoolgirls who were formerly held by Boko Haram were allowed to visit their families in 2016 for
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
, Ali and another girl, Maryam Ali Maiyanga were not, due to being reportedly deemed psychologically unfit to return home.
In 2017, Ali was studying at the American University in Nigeria, with the aim of becoming an accountant.
See also
*
List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
Before 1900
1900–1949
...
*
List of solved missing person cases
References
2010s missing person cases
21st-century Nigerian women
Boko Haram
Formerly missing people
Kidnapped Nigerian children
Living people
Missing person cases in Nigeria
Nigerian people taken hostage
Nigerian terrorism victims
Year of birth missing (living people)
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